One of the areas of increasing concern for our game is the rising incidences of inappropriate touchline behaviour. This can impact negatively on the quality of experience enjoyed by young players, their families, referees and other spectators.

Dear Spectator,

As young players we are taught to follow the Core Values of rugby and it is important that you do too.

These values are: Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.

Respect is very important and under the Core Values it says:
• We respect our match officials and accept their decisions.
• We respect opposition players and supporters.
• We value our coaches and those who run our clubs.

We are also taught under Sportsmanship:

• We observe fair play both on and off the pitch and are generous in victory and dignified in defeat.

We play because we enjoy it. Enjoyment is what our game is about.

We want you to enjoy the game as much as we do and to show your team and the opposition the respect and support they deserve.

We do not want our game spoilt by the bad behaviour of adults: parents, coaches or spectators.

We respect our referees, they are in charge of the game and give up their time so that we can play. They are volunteers and do their best to make sure that we are safe and having fun..

We want you to respect our referees too.

We value our coaches and respect players from the opposition, their coaches and supporters.

We want you to value and respect them too.

Don’t shout at the referee please and don’t make comments about our performance or the opposition team’s performance.

This is our team, our club and our sport. Please don’t spoil it. We learn to be generous in victory and dignified in defeat and we want you to be too.

Signed

Rugby Club Minis and Juniors